Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions on

skills, training

and career development

March 2014

Some figures on Marie Curie 2007-2013 | General

2/3 of Shanghai top 500 list organisations

participated in 2011

80 000 researchers

financed since creation

of MCA (1996)

9 400 projects funded (Jan

2014) in FP7 (€4.4 billion)

> 18 000 host

organisations in 82

countries (46 Third

Countries)

Some figures on Marie Curie 2007-2013 | Luxembourg

8

4 3

2 1 1 1

UL FNR CRP Santé Goodyear SA CRP GabrielLippmann

Paul Wurth SA RecherchesScientifiquesLuxembourg

asbl

Overall EC

contribution to

projects in

Luxembourg

10,4 m€

“Success Story” FSI-Harvest

Putting things into context

Competitiveness and Cohesion (45% of EU budget)

Preservation and management of resources (43%)

Citizenship, freedom, security and justice (1,1%)

EU as a global player(4,8%)

Other including administration (6,3%)

1. Smart and Inclusive Growth

1a) Competitiveness

for growth and jobs

1b) Economic, social

and territorial cohesion

Large infrastructure projects

Nuclear safety and

decommissioning

Competitiveness of enterprises

and SME (COSME)

Education (Erasmus for all)

Social change and innovation

(PSCI)

Customs, Fiscalis and Anti-

Fraud

Connecting Europe Facility

(CEF)

Energy projects to aid

economic recovery (EERP)

Common strategic framework

Research and Innovation

(Horizon 2020, Euratom)

Horizon 2020 General Structure

Common rules,

toolkit of funding

schemes

Simplified access

JIT

JRC

Shared objectives

and principles

Europe2020 Priorities European Research Area International Cooperation

Dissemination

Knowledge

transfer

Societal Challenges • Health, demographic change and

wellbeing

• Food security, sustainable agriculture and the bio-based economy

• Secure, clean and efficient energy

• Smart, green and integrated transport

• Climate action, resource efficiency and raw materials

• Inclusive, innovative and reflective societies

• Secure Societies

Excellent Science • Frontier research (ERC)

• Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)

• Skills and career development (Marie Curie)

• Research infrastructures

Industrial Leadership

• Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies: ICT; Nanotech, Materials, Manufacturing and Processing; Biotechnology; Space

• Access to risk finance

• Innovation in SMEs

http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/

MARIE SKLODOWSKA CURIE ACTIONS

Shift in focus and redefined priorities

"Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions"

shall provide excellent and

innovative research training

as well as attractive career and

knowledge-exchange

opportunities through cross-

border and cross-sector

mobility of researchers to best

prepare them to face current

and future societal

challenges.”

Excellent

Innovative

Training Knowledge

exchange Cross-border

Cross-sector Mobility

Societal challenges

Horizon 2020 Regulation of Establishment Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013

Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions | Key features (1/2)

Mobility of researchers

from all over the world

For researchers at

every stage of their

career

Bottom up

Financing rate 100%

Competitive calls

Independent experts

The People The Programme

Focus on training and

career development of

researchers

817, 40 m € in 2014

757,54 m € in 2015

Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions | Key features (2/2)

Open to all domains of research and innovation from

basic research up to market take-up and innovation

services

Participation of non-academic sector strongly

encouraged, especially industry and SMEs

Mobility as the key requirement - funding on condition

participants move from one country to another

Particular attention to gender balance

Public engagement of supported researchers (vs

dissemination)

New and simplified definitions

Academic sector: public or private

HEI awarding academic degrees,

public or private non-profit research

organisations, international

European interest organisations

Non-academic sector: any socio-

economic actor not included in the

academic sector definition

NEW!

Staff members in RISE:

researchers, managers,

administrative and technical

personnel supporting research and

innovation activities of the project

Beneficiaries signatories of the

grant agreement (with the EC/REA)

Partner organisations not signing

the grant agreement (but commit to

beneficiaries)

Categories of researchers: Early-

stage researcher (ESR) and

Experienced Researcher (ER)

Constant

Mobility rule and full time research

equivalent

Early stage, experienced researchers, mobility rule

Early Stage Researcher In the first 4 years (full-time equivalent research experience*) of their career and not awarded a PhD at the time of their (first) recruitment.

Experienced Researcher At call deadline, be in possession of a doctoral degree or have at least four years of full-time equivalent research experience*.

Mobility rule Researcher must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organisation for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to his/her (first) recruitment.

No restrictions based on nationality.

The case of Italy

*Full-time equivalent research experience is measured from the date when a

researcher obtained the degree which would formally entitle him or her to

embark on a doctorate

Associated Countries

Same as FP7

Norway

Israel

Iceland

Turkey

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia Albania and Montenegro

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Faroe Islands

Republic of Moldova

Changes since FP7

Croatia

Liechtenstein A word on Switzerland

Negotiations ongoing with Armenia + Urkaine

MSCA: four major instruments

IF Experienced

Researchers

Individual fellowship supporting experienced

researchers undertaking mobility

RISE Exchange of

Staff

International and inter-sector cooperation through

research and innovation staff exchange

COFUND Co-funding

Co-funding of regional, national and international

programmes funding doctoral and postdoctoral

researchers

ITN Early-Stage

Researchers

Innovative networks supporting early-stage training

(Including Industrial doctorates & Joint doctorates)

IF – INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIPS

IF | Objectives

Objectives

Enhance the creative and innovative

potential of experienced researchers (ER)

Opportunities for new knowledge, projects

in or outside Europe, resume a career,

return to Europe

Eligibility

Experienced Researcher At time of

deadline, possess a PhD OR at least 4 years

FTE research experience (with or without

doctoral degree)

Any nationality

Transnational mobility Cf mobility rule: not

have resided in the country of host organisation for

more than 12 months in 3 years prior to call deadline

(holidays, short stays, compulsory service excluded)

Beneficiary (host institution) located in

Member State (MS) or Associated Country

(AC)

NEW: secondments to partner

organisations in MS/AC possible

1

2

IF | European Fellowships, Global Fellowships

European Fellowship (EF) Coming from a Member State,

Associated Country, or Third Country

To a host organisation in MS/AC

Global Fellowship (GF) Outgoing Phase secondment to partner

organisation in Third Country (TC) + return

period to host organisation (beneficiary) in

Member State (MS) or Associated

Country (AC)

12-24 months outgoing

+ 12 months return phase

(mandatory)

12-24 months

Partner organisations Do not recruit the researcher

Do not sign Grant Agreement

Do not claim costs directly

Must provide letter of

commitment

IF | Evaluation and Panels

8 main scientific panels

Chemistry (CHE)

Social Sciences and

Humanities (SOC)

Economic Sciences (ECO)

Information Science and

Engineering (ENG)

Life Science (LIF)

Mathematics (MAT)

Physics (PHY)

2 multidisciplinary panels

For EF only

Career Restart Panel Not active in research for min. 12

months

Reintegration Panel LT resident or national of MS/AC, taking

up a position in MS/AC

IF | Funding

Researcher Unit Cost Person/month

Institutional unit cost Person/month

Living allowance Mobility allowance

Family allowance

Research, training and networking costs

Management and indirect costs

4 650 600 500 800 650

EU contribution based on unit costs

expressed in person-months, paid by

host institution

(Calculated automatically)

Mind the Country Correction

Coefficient (for living allowance only!)

Family allowance: determined at

beginning and not changed during

project

Top-up possible.

Under-payment strictly forbidden and

rigourously controlled

IF | Typical Activities

Training-through-research under the direct supervision of the

supervisor and other members of the scientific staff of the host

organisation by the means of an individual personalised action

Hands-on training activities for developing scientific and

transferable skills: entrepreneurship, proposal preparation to

request funding, patent applications, management of IPR, action

management, task coordination, supervising and monitoring, take up

and exploitation of research results…

Inter-sectoral or interdisciplinary transfer of knowledge (secondments)

Research and financial management of the action

Organisation of scientific/training/dissemination events

Communication, outreach activities and horizontal skills

Training dedicated to gender issues

“Training-through-

research”

Training on

scientific and

transferable skills

Secondments

Other…

ITN: INNOVATIVE TRAINING NETWORKS

Innovative Training Networks | COMMON features

What they do

Train a new generation of early-stage researchers that are creative and entrepreneurial

Raise excellence and structure research and doctoral training

Provide also transferable competences and increase career chances of young researchers

How it works

International network of partners which recruit and host ESRs based on joint research training/doctoral programme.

Training through individual research projects within the framework of the overall research topic.

“Meaningful exposure” to the “non-academic sector”.

Typical project duration 48 months; recruitment: 3 – 36 months

ETN | European Training Network

Most general training programme (+ biggest budget); no doctoral training necessary

• Min. 3 beneficiaries from min. 3 MS/AC (but: 6-10 recommended), each recruiting min. 1 ESR + as many partner organisation as desirable

• Non-academic participation “expected”

• Maximum of 540 Researcher-months per Network

• Secondments possible up to 30% of recruitment period

• Joint supervision encouraged

• Max 40% of project budget allocated to one country

8 panels: EUR 349,68m

ITN

ETN EID EJD

EID | European Industrial Doctorate

Doctoral training in collaboration with the non-academic

sector

• Min 2 beneficiaries in min 2 MS/AC (or additional

beneficiaries if “multiple EID”)

• Min 1 beneficiary entitled to award doctoral degree + min

50% of time spent in non-academic sector

• Joint selection, training and supervision

• Max 540 researcher-months (except if only 2 beneficiaries:

180 researcher-months)

Separate panel: EUR 25,5m

ITN

ETN EID EJD

EJD | European Joint Doctorates

Promotes greater structural cooperation between universities

• Min 3 beneficiaries entitled to deliver doctoral degrees

• International, inter- sectoral and multi/inter-disciplinary

programmes

• Joint doctoral programmes (single diploma issued by min 2

higher education institutions)

• Double or multiple doctoral degrees (two or more separate

national diplomas)

• Mandatory joint governance structure and supervision

Max 540 researcher-months

Separate panel: EUR 30 m

ITN

ETN EID EJD

Innovative Training Networks | Typical Activities

Network-wide training activities (e.g. seminars,

workshops and summer schools)

Training in key transferable skills

Collaboration and exchange of knowledge

within the network

Communication & Dissemination

Public engagement

ITN | Funding

Researcher Unit Cost

Person/month

Institutional unit cost

Person/month

Living

allowance

Mobility

allowance

Family

allowance

Research,

training and

networking

costs

Management

and indirect

costs

3 110 600 500 1 800 1 200

EU contribution based on unit costs

expressed in person-months, paid by

host institution

(Calculated automatically)

Mind the Country Correction

Coefficient (for living allowance only!)

Family allowance: determined at

beginning and not changed during

project

Top-up possible.

Under-payment strictly forbidden and

rigourously controlled

http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/

RISE – RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

STAFF EXCHANGE

RISE

What it does

• promote international and inter-sector collaboration through research and innovation staff exchanges

• foster a shared culture of research and innovation

How it works

• Support to secondments of staff of 1 to 12 months

• Participants from 3 different countries, with at least 2 MS/AC

(However, if all participants are from the same sector (e.g. academic), at least one must be from a Third Country)

• Projects of max 4 years

• No mobility rule required…

• But: Eligibility condition for staff member 6 month at the sending institution prior to the first secondment

• Maximum 540 researcher-months per consortium

• 8 evaluation panels

• Budget:

RISE | Funding

Staff member unit cost (per person-

month of secondment)

Institutional unit cost

Person/month of secondment

2000

Research, training

and networking

costs

Management

and indirect

costs

1800 700

Staff member unit cost: top-up

allowance to support travel,

accomodation, subsistence costs during

secondment

Benficiaries and partner organisations

continue to pay salary during stay

abroad

EVALUATION

Evaluation Criteria

ITN IF RISE

Excellence

Quality, innovative aspects and credibility of the research programme (including inter/multidisciplinary and intersectoral

aspects)

Quality of supervision and hosting arrangements

Clarity and quality of transfer of knowledge/training for the development

of researcher in light of the research (and/or innovation) objectives

Quality of the proposed interaction between the

participating organisations

Capacity of the researcher to reach

or re-enforce a position of

professional maturity in research

Quality of the interaction between

the participating organisations

Impact

Enhancing research- and innovation-related human resources, skills, and working conditions to realise the potential of

individuals and to provide new career perspectives

Effectiveness of the proposed measures for communication and dissemination of results

Contribution to structuring doctoral / early-stage

research training at the European level and to

strengthening European innovation capacity,

including the potential for:

a) meaningful contribution of the non-academic

sector to the doctoral/research training, as

appropriate to the implementation mode and

research field

b) developing sustainable joint doctoral degree

structures (for EJD projects only)

To develop new and lasting

research collaborations, to

achieve transfer of knowledge

between

research institutions and to

improve research and innovation

potential at the European and

global

levels

Implementation Overall coherence and effectiveness of the work plan, including appropriateness of the allocation of tasks and resources

Appropriateness of the management structures and procedures, including quality management and risk management

Appropriateness of the institutional environmnent (infrastructure)

Competences, experience and complementarity of the participating organisations and institutional commitment

Excellence

For ALL: Quality, innovative aspects and credibility of the research programme (including inter/multidisciplinary and intersectoral aspects)

For ITN and IF: Quality of supervision and hosting arrangements

For IF and RISE: Clarity and quality of transfer of knowledge/training for the development of researcher in light of the research (and/or innovation) objectives

For ITN and RISE: Quality of the proposed interaction between the participating organisations

For IF: Capacity of the researcher to reach or re-enforce a position of professional maturity in research

Impact

For ALL: Enhancing research- and innovation-related

human resources, skills to realise the potential of

individuals and to provide new career perspectives;

Effectiveness of the proposed measures for

communication and dissemination of results

For ITN: Contribution to structuring doctoral / early-

stage research training at the European level and to

strengthening European innovation capacity,

including the potential for:

a) meaningful contribution of the non-academic

sector to the doctoral/research training

b) developing sustainable joint doctoral degree

structures (for EJD projects only)

For RISE: To develop new and lasting research

collaborations, to achieve transfer of knowledge

between research institutions and to improve research

and innovation potential at the European and global

levels

Implementation

For ALL:

Overall coherence and effectiveness of the work plan, including appropriateness of the allocation of tasks and resources

Appropriateness of the management structures and procedures, including quality management and risk management

Appropriateness of the institutional environmnent (infrastructure)

Competences, experience and complementarity of the participating organisations and institutional commitment

Ethics issues

All proposals considered for funding

will be submitted to an Ethics

Review

Each applicant is responsible for

identifying any potential ethical

issues, handling ethical aspects of

their proposals, detailing how they

plan to address them in sufficient

detail already at the proposal stage

Evaluation Criteria, Scores, and Weighting (an example)

Criterion Score Weight Weighted Score

Excellence 3 50% 1,5

Impact 4 30% 1,2

Implementation 3,5 20% 0,7

Total score expressed out of 5

(threshold 3,5) 3,4

Total score expressed out of 100

(threshold 70%) 68

Call schedules and funding envelopes

Programme Opens Closes Envelope

ITN 11/12/2013 09/04/2014 € 405,18 m

02/09/2014 13/01/2015 € 370 m

IF 12/03/2014 11/09/2014 € 240,5 m

12/03/2015 10/09/2015 €213 m

RISE 11/12/2013 24/04/2014 € 70 m

06/01/2015 28/04/2015 € 80 m

COFUND 10/04/2014 02/10/2014 € 80 m

14/04/2015 01/10/2015 € 80 m

Download the iCalender file from the Participant portal for

an overview of all H2020 call deadlines in your Outlook

calendar

HOW TO PREPARE A PROPOSAL

1. Change perspective: By forwarding your career and building your skills, you help resolve (EU-wide) problems and increase the European excellent science base 2. Cooperate: Across borders, disciplines, and sectors. The EU loves that. 3. Take your time: Prepare the project thoroughly (Work Programmes cover 2 years now (though less relevant for bottom-up programmes) 4. Avoid last-second submissions: Submit your proposal even at a draft stage. Only the last version will be taken into account. 5. Jump through all hoops: by following the proposal submission outline and providing all references (Letter of commitment! Ethical issues! Gender!)

9 (+1) Tips on How to write a proposal (1/2)

6. Do your reading. (Call text, Work Programme, Guide for Applicants, General Annexes to Work Programmes, past funded projects, etc) 7. Keep in mind the evaluation criteria: Excellence-Impact-Implementation, their weighting and details for your specific programme 8. Get help: Have your proposal evaluated by neutral peers, contact NCPs or the Research Enquiry Service 9. Mind the reader: Your objective is to convince three to five evaluators: make life easier for them, be convincing, do not assume they have all background knowledge. Use simple terms and a clear structure, use graphs, tables, and index, etc (evaluation on “as-is”) Bonus: Become an evaluator

9 (+1) Tips on How to write a proposal (2/2)

Proposal Submission | PART A

Five Sections

1. General information: acronym, proposal title, duration in months, panel, abstract

2. Participants & contacts: administrative data of participating organisations, contact details

3. Budget: automatic calculation based on unit costs

4. Ethics: human embryos, humans, human cells, protection of personal data, animals, non-EU countries, environment protection, dual use, misuse, other

Proposal Submission | PART B

Details of the proposed research and training programmes

Practical arrangements planned to implement them.

Structure proposal according to the Part B proposal template!

Word version downloadable from Electronic Submission Services

The Guide for Applicants explains each section in detail

List of participants

Start page count

1. Summary

2. Excellence

3. Impact

4. Implementation

Stop page count – 30 pages (ITN), 10 pages (IF)

5. GANTT Chart (ITN) / References (RISE) /

CV of experienced researcher for IF)

6. Capacities of the participating organisations

7. Ethics Aspects

8. Letters of commitment of partner organisations

Proposal templates

RISE

http://ec.europa.eu/research/parti

cipants/data/ref/h2020/call_ptef/pt

/h2020-call-pt-msca-rise_en.pdf

Administrative forms (Part A)

Research proposal (Part B)

ITN

http://ec.europa.eu/research/parti

cipants/data/ref/h2020/call_ptef/pt

/h2020-call-pt-msca-itn_en.pdf

(IF not available yet)

MSCA Alumni Association

Already 3000 members, expected to

increase by 2-4K/year

Services:

• micro-grants for travelling, teaching,

dissemination

• discussion fora

• job search

• IPR

• contact database

www.mariecuriealumni.eu

Further reference

Horizon2020 Participant Portal – for all information, updates, etc

Work Programme Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions, 2014-2015, URL

Horizon 2020 Rules for Participation, Reguation (EU) 1290/2013, URL

Model Grant Agreements, URL

Proposal Templates: RISE, ITN, IF

Standard Evaluation Forms: RISE, ITN, IF

List of Descriptors for MSCA proposals, URL

From Face to Face, Portraits of Marie Curie Fellows, European Commission, 2012, URL

Fact Sheet IP management in Marie Curie Actions, IPR Helpdesk, August 2012, URL

Horizon 2020 Helpdesk (Research Enquiry Service)

Register as an Horizon 2020 evaluator

Contact

Katharina Horst

European Funding Programmes

T (+352) 43 62 63 – 1 (ext: 663)

katharina.horst@luxinnovation.lu

www.horizon2020.lu